User:Kerif42099/sandbox

The urban forest provides habitat for many wildlife species, including song birds, squirrels and other small mammals, and insects. The urban forest provides the basics that animals need for survival; food, water, shelter, and space or habitat. Fruit or mast producing trees provide food sources, trees and other vegetation provide shelter and habitats, and artificial water sources in cities and their parks provide water. The urban forest can be planned and managed in the context of the wildlife populations in the area, increasing the population of desired species or decreasing the population of undesirable or invasive ones based on the biological and/or cultural carrying capacity of the municipality. Without one of the basics of survival, wildlife cannot inhabit the area. Trees and vegetation can be altered to decrease habitat space and fewer fruit producing trees could be planted or fruit could be cleaned up to limit food sources.

Biodiversity and Endangered Species
Biodiversity has been declining across the world due to climate change, deforestation, and the destruction of critical habitats. Preserving and bolstering biodiversity ensures that ecosystems of all kinds are functioning properly, and we can thus reap the benefits of ecosystem services. Urbanization holds potential solutions to achieve high levels of biodiversity when managed correctly. In the United States, the Endangered Species Act’s language acts as a means to protect not only listed species but also the conservation of their habitats to sustain them, many of which are found in urban areas. Multiple transcontinental research projects on urban wildlife have found that there is a consistent positive correlation between human population density and species richness across all vertebrate taxonomic groups. Urban areas provide and maintain a mosaic of diverse wildlife habitat to support existing and introduced fauna. Urban Forestry Management Plans can support and improve urban biodiversity by including following attributes: routine tree inventories to identify a biodiversity baseline for goal setting, intentional tree planting of hardy species to promote biodiversity, and lastly to focus on the preservation and improvement of urban parks and woodlots as vital wooded and edge habitats. Challenges to managing for biodiversity and endangered species include the difficulties in creating and managing artificial, fragmented, yet diverse habitat types simultaneously in the context of social problems such as poverty and crime.

Invasive Species
Invasive species are nonnative plants, animals, microbial pathogens, and fungi that cause damage environmentally and/or economically. These species are having a number of negative effects on our forests, both wild and urban, from being a nuisance to compromising and killing native trees. Oftentimes, invasive species are introduced via urban areas that serve as transportation hubs, meaning that the urban forest is typically the first to be affected by them, and can also serve as the first line of defense to keep them from invading native forests. In response to the growing prevalence, many municipalities have begun planting disease and pest resistant cultivars, such as modified American Elms and Ash trees to prevent the spread of the fungal Dutch Elm Disease and Emerald Ash Borer infestations, respectively. There are also rising regulations against the planting of invasive tree species that are harmful to the naturally occurring ecosystems because they can out compete native species for resources or attract undesirable wildlife. In April of 2019, the state of Indiana enacted the Terrestrial Plants Rule, banning 44 invasive nursery species that cause harm to the urban forest and attract undesirable wildlife, including tree-of-heaven, honeysuckle and autumn olive. The Bradford Pear, a common landscape tree, has been banned from the state of Ohio, and the cities of Charlotte, North Carolina, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania , as they are known to spread quickly, crowding out native vegetation from grasses to hardwood trees, further fragmenting and damaging the habitat of native animals as well.